Understanding the radius and center of a circle is crucial for mastering circle equations. Let's break these down:
\( r \): This is the radius of the circle. It's the distance from the circle's center to any point on its circumference.
\(h\) and \(k\): These represent the coordinates of the circle's center on the coordinate plane — \( h \) being the x-coordinate, and \( k \) being the y-coordinate.
In our exercise, we have:
Replacing \( r \) with 3 shows that every point on the circle is exactly 3 units away from the origin. So, the center \( (h,k) = (0,0) \) is right on the origin, making it very straightforward to draw the circle. This simple understanding makes graphing the circle as easy as following the steps below:
- Draw a coordinate plane with x and y axes.
- Place the circle's center at (0,0).
- Draw a circle reaching 3 units away from the center in all directions.
This visual representation ties together how the equation reflects the actual geometric shape.